The Natural
by InsanityamI
Summary: We all have a past. But sometimes, to keep safe we have to hide it. Sometimes, even those dearest to us need to be kept in the dark. And that's what Eli's been doing his whole life. Arthur/Eli oneshot


The Natural

Dom stared at the plans Ariadne had made, examining, tweaking, thinking. And always reaching the same conclusion, one that Ariadne in her inexperience was having trouble coming to. He looked over at her, trying to find another design that wouldn't come to the conclusion, trying to construct a labyrinth with no exits. Unfortunately this target was thoroughly adept at labyrinths, having managed to escape the previous dream extractors several times on his own. Dom shook his head. Recruiting this particular member would be tricky; he glanced at Arthur, deep within a dream share. Oh, Arthur was going to throw a fit. He turned to Ariadne.

_It was four, maybe five years ago. Cobb had heard about them. About the impossible humans with uniqueness that inspired thousands. Then he met one of them, the last free Dreamwalker, as they were called then. But things change, and Arden had no choice but to run._

"Come with me." She followed him from the warehouse, frustration and worry marring her youthful face. Dom suddenly recalled that she was still very young, barely even twenty. He continued to walk, hailing a cab and opening the door for Ariadne.

"Where are we going?" Dom looked at her and smiled.

"To catch ourselves a natural." He turned to the driver.

"The Lightman Group please."

_They had worked together for a year and a half. Long enough to form a camaraderie. Then they had need for a more specialised talent, so they sought out a point-man. A man whose totem was a loaded red die. And Arden fell fast. _

Eli Loker just knew when he got up in the morning that it was going to be one of _those _days, where everything that could go wrong, would go wrong. First he spilt boiling hot coffee down himself before leaving work, causing him to burn his chest and obviously requiring him to change. Then he was late to work, and missed out on one hell of an assignment because of it, meaning that he was back to researching the mating rituals of the three-toed sloth, or whatever the heck he was supposed to be doing. Then, oh then, Torres walked in with her sexy little outfit, complimented by the big hulk of man-muscle arm candy. His eyes twitched. Once upon a time he would have found the man incredibly attractive too, but now, seeing those rippling muscles, wondering what he must look like without the shirt on…it did nothing for him. He looked back to the computer screen. Well, to be fair, he'd always preferred more lean men. The kind that wore suits. Like Arthur.

Now why would he think of Arthur now? It had been years. He had been a kid back then, playing with dreams, testing his concept of reality. It had been almost as long since he willingly shared a dream.

"Eli, there is a couple here to see you. They say it's extremely urgent." Eli pressed the intercom button so that he'd be heard.

"Names?"

"Dominic Cobb and Ariadne Page."

Now Eli knew it wasn't his day. And when he groaned, he could swear he heard Dom laugh.

_Eli thought back. He remembered so many things about the past, not necessarily in order. Arthur's touch; their first, shy kiss. How Arthur proclaimed that he would love him forever and a day. Perhaps not quite so cliché but the truth was in the words. And Arden had known, just known that he had finally found his soul mate. Someone he would love and live for and dream for until the end of eternity. Just like Mal and Dom._

"So, what's a natural?" Ariadne whispered to Dom, as Eli was on his way to the reception.

"In our business, a natural means someone who can invade someone else's dreams."

"How is that any different to what we can already do?"

"He can do it without being connected to them, without being drugged and without even having to be in the same room as them. It also means, assuming he agrees to help us, that he can move between the levels, without requiring a kick, and help us all wake up. That way, for all intents and purposes, we don't need an escape route in the design."

"Wow"

"Yeah, Eli is just one of five people worldwide who can do this; the other four are currently in the military, pretty much under lock and key. It's a unique gift, one the government would and have killed for. They've been looking for Eli for several years."

"So how does he hide?"

"Changes his name every few years, friends in high places and of course, who would suspect him here, a business, a legitimate business, which specifies in finding the liars? That and the fact he doesn't let anyone but his nearest and dearest take his picture."

"He's good."

"I'm not just good, I'm very good." Dom rose from his seat and embraced the younger man.

"It's good to see you old friend."

"You too, Dom." The men smiled and Eli's attention turned to Ariadne.

"And this must be Ariadne, whom I have heard absolutely nothing about." Ariadne laughed gently. Eli took her hand and placed a dainty kiss upon it.

"Now, introductions made, what's the job Dom?"

"What makes you think-" Dom stopped mid-sentence and reconsidered. "Extraction with a twist." Eli raised an eyebrow.

"Let's go."

"Don't you have to square things with your boss?" Ariadne asked. Sudden movement occurred at the corner of his eye. A tail. FBI? CIA? Military? Regardless it was time to move on. Three years he had managed, the longest he'd ever been in one place since before he realised that sneaking into other people's dreams wasn't normal.

"No." He said quietly. Slowly he felt inside his pocket, and pulled out a small phone, pressing a single button on it. Simultaneously all of the windows smashed and the three dream invaders ran.

_The night was the worst time. When Arden felt the cold seep into his veins. Arthur had left him. Had said he couldn't cope with a life on the run. That he had to go back to dreaming. Arden knew that it was a lie. They had argued mercilessly for weeks. Insignificant little details adding up to the fact that Arthur, in his own youth and inexperience, couldn't cope with the fact that perhaps Arden was not entirely human. That he definitely wasn't normal. The night was the worst time. _

"What the hell is going on here?" Cal Lightman roared. It appeared that his entire office had become a war zone. No one had been hurt badly, but it had shaken most of them up.

"Torres, I want to see the footage now! And where on God's green earth is Loker?"His employees shrugged helplessly. Torres brought up the footage. All of them watched Eli approach the two people, one of whom obviously a friend. They listened to the conversation in shock, saw Eli tense up and somehow cause the explosions. Cal closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. It was one of those days…

_He'd grown up a lot since the old days. He kept travelling, always staying on step ahead of the armed forces that hunted him. Yet every day still felt like an eternity. His soul cried and his heart wept. But he soldiered on, knowing that it was only temporary. If Arth- if he had been Arden's soulmate, he never would have left. Arden tried to bury the feelings of horror that rose to his chest, the instinctive soul deep denial of that one errant thought. But he couldn't, not completely. It was time to take a new identity, a new name. A new type of courage. He wouldn't allow that man to hurt him anymore._

"A warehouse Dom. Seriously, you couldn't do any better than a _warehouse." _

"Don't be such a snob Eli." Eli sighed and entered the room, to see three more pairs of eyes looking at him. Fantastic. His eyes met Arthur's.

"What's he doing here?" Arthur yelled, almost high pitched. Eli's eyes widened. He spun to face Dom.

"You didn't tell him?" Dom shrugged.

"Arthur, you were dreaming when I figured out we needed him, and good timing too. Another five minutes and we would have lost him."

"How did you know where he was in the first place?" Eli rolled his eyes.

"Because I told him Arthur, keep up." He plonked himself down on a lounger and looked at the team.

"I'm thinking you're an architect Ariadne? Nash isn't here."

"Thank you Captain-"

"Yes, I'm the new architect." Ariadne interrupted Arthur.

"Good. I'll start with you – can I see the design?" Ariadne nodded and showed him to her section of the warehouse. Arthur watched quietly, noting how…composed he was, and how much he'd changed since they last saw each other. Arthur tried to overcome the temptation to run.

"_Because that's what you do, isn't it Arthur? If it's not to do with Cobb, if it's to do with your feelings, your selfish desires, you run." _

That voice from years gone by would always haunt him. Arthur's heart skipped a beat and he turned to look at Cobb, his face ashen.

"Why?" He asked brokenly. Cobb looked at him sympathetically.

"You know why."

_It had taken a long time for Arthur to forgive himself. He tried to find Arden, but he'd left it too late, the trail had gone cold long ago._

"So, who is Eli?" Torres asked to room, consisting of Foster, Lightman and a newly recovered Reynolds. Ben pulled out a file and explained.

"He's what the military term a 'Natural' when they talk about dream invasion, or extraction which is the common term. It's a method by which people connect themselves up to wires and share a dream. After a while it becomes the only way they can dream – generally only the military uses it for training purposes. However there are men and women who will perform extractions in order to gain information for a price."

"So they're what, dream thieves?"

"Exactly. Now, where Eli comes into this is, well, for starters his real name isn't Eli Loker. We don't know what it is but it's not that. His documents are all falsified. However, the first name we have on record is Arden Blake. As he mentioned, he is wanted, funnily enough not because there's any proof of wrongdoing, but because he can invade dreams without the use of connectors or sedatives. Nor does he need the individual components that extractions usually require. In a team there is always an Extractor. Someone highly qualified to find the hidden information. Then there is a Point Man or Woman, someone who researches the target thoroughly. The Architect comes next- someone who builds the dream world that they draw the target into. Then sometimes they'll require a Chemist, to put together the compounds that allow them to enter the shared dream, especially if they're doing something as complicated as a two level extraction, a dream within a dream. They may also require a Thief or a Forger. A Forger can essentially morph into any person with ease in a dream."

The team absorbed this knowledge, knowing the next few days; even weeks or months were going to be difficult for Eli to manoeuvre, especially if he went on a job. Torres put her head in her hands, Foster looked out of the window, her eyes far away in the land of thought, Reynolds rereading the file again, trying to find a way out for the raven-haired man. Cal on the other hand smirked and sent one simple text.

_Loker, I fully expect you to come back after your…sabbatical. Boss._

Reading the text Eli could only chuckle. He then went on to wonder whether he could get away with going back. Maybe dye his hair, get coloured contacts, maybe a suit? He'd have to see if he could borrow one from Arthur to try it. He glanced at the Point Man who was steadfastly ignoring him. Maybe not then. He continued to 'listen' to Ariadne's description, her not realising that he already understood the concept of what they wanted to do, and was already planning how to make it stronger, better. Though, in all honesty he was still impressed with the young architect. Already she was better than Cobb. Perhaps one day she'd surpass him. Maybe.

Unable to help himself he glanced again at Arthur. He smiled and nodded at Ariadne, as if to make his excuses. She stopped mid-sentence and smiled back. Slowly and quietly he crept up behind Arthur, wrapping his arms around the man. Sighing, realising resist was futile; he leaned back into the touch. It had been far too long.

"I've missed you Arden." He whispered as Eli led him away from the warehouse.

_It was time to put the past behind them. Today was definitely his day._


End file.
